It's GO TIME!

---

Hello Everyone!

This is our first official travel blog entry! Alicia and I are heading out on our 5 month adventure in exactly 9 days and couldn't be more excited! We hope that this site will make it easy for all of our friends and family to stay in connected with us and get an in-depth good look at what we've been experiencing. Also, we plan on collecting ridiculous amounts of photos and footage which we will upload here as much as we can.....

The Basics:

On November 3rd we are flying out of LAX at 11:30pm. After 18 hours in the air and a 3 hour layover in Taiwan we will arrive in Bali, Indonesia (two days later!) We plan on staying in in Bali and exploring its surrounding islands for at least one month then traveling north. We will visit Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, eventually returning to Bali to head back to the US on April 1st.

Southeast Asia straddles the equator so it will be warm and HUMID the entire time. The region has two seasons, wet and dry. We are traveling during in the dry season but with with northern and southern monsoons affecting the weather patterns, we will definitely see serious rain as well.

Their are a few health issues that can be addressed with shots and prescriptions which we will have to stay healthy. The biggest concern is malaria which is contracted by mosquito bites. We have prescribed anti-malarial pills which we'll be taking once a week throughout the trip and daily in more rural areas. We'll be taking multi-vitamins, drinking only bottled water/beverages and choosing our meals wisely.

The currency used in Indo is the Rupiah and the US dollar is VERY strong there. We will be living on a daily budget of 15-20 dollars each/per day which will easily cover 3 meals, local transportation AND a hotel/hostel. We will travel mostly by boat, train and bus with the occasional moped rental here and there. We want to travel and eat like the locals for a more culturally authentic experience, and also because its the cheapest way to roll.

The region has experienced two earthquakes and a tsunami in recent months which is obviously concerning and has affected some areas that we've planned on visiting. We have worked too hard to make this trip happen and are not turning back. That being said we can use all of the positive thoughts, prayers and energy sent our way from our loved ones to stay safe!

We love you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Cheers,
Marcus and Beash

---

Comments

[Russ and Kim]

We are definity sending good vibes and prayers
Have fun and be safe my son. everyone here is asking how your trip started. I will send blog to all inquires.

[Mom]

Handleys hooked up to blog?
Do I need to send link to anybody on my side of family? Nice first entry; you can tell you are a communications major ;-)